‘Zing, zing, zing’ went my hops

For the Love of Hops“Clang, clang, clang” went the trolley
“Ding, ding, ding” went the bell
“Zing, zing, zing” went my heartstrings

– From “The Trolley Song” in Meet Me in St. Louis, sung by Judy Garland

Today, Simon Johnson tweeted “#nowdrinking Southwold Blonde by @adnams for @marksandspencer. I rave about the IPAs; this is as good. Plenty of zing about it.”

Last month at the National Homebrew Conference during his presentation about “wet hops” Jamie Floyd of Ninkasi Brewing said what makes wet hop/fresh hop/harvest hop beers special is “that fresh hop zing.”

I don’t have a clue how to describe what “zing” tastes like, but I agree it is a good thing.

4 thoughts on “‘Zing, zing, zing’ went my hops”

  1. I’ve always described citrusy hops, like Amarillo and Citra as “zingy,” but I like to use “punch” for piney hops, as in “…has a good punch of Cascade.”

  2. From urban dictionary:

    Zing
    1.) The new term for owned, said after saying something witty to someone in an insulting manner.

    2.) interjection: A self proclaimed exclamation of superior bantering abilities
    noun: a statement designed to verbally serve someone

    3.) An interjection commonly used after making a witty joke at someone else’s expense while they are present.

    Not sure Judy was singing about any of those… hopefully the Hop Bloggers aren’t either!

  3. For me, zing is related wholly to flavor–not bitterness. Bitterness bites (or lacerates), but zing is designator of flavor. It evokes tart and citric, but also the more amorphous quality of life that Bailey and Jamie allude to.

    In my working hypothesis, it’s also what distinguishes the quality of Pac NW hopping from So Cal hopping. Ours is zingy, theirs bitter.

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